Box-Office Report - Week of 1 April 2011

The week of April 1^st had no surprises in store for movie-goers. As expected, the most popular movie of the week was children's movie "Hop" while those intended for more mature audiences underperformed. Let's see how last week's box-office unfolded :

• #1 was taken by "Hop" with an aggresive week-end cume of $38M. It's not as solid as the director's previous "Alvin and the Chipmunks" which opened with a more impressive $44M. The 2007 hit went on to earn a very cool $217M. "Hop" has little hopes of ever reaching that sum, though, but it will probably finish in the vicinity of $150M. Not bad at all.

• Duncan Jones second feature, "Source Code", a clever sci-fi thriller with a solid cast only managed to take in $15M in its first three days, placing it at #2. A weak debut for a moderately hyped movie. But, considering it's budget was of only $32M (aprox.), it will not have a problem earning back that amount. It's possible to finish in the $50M-70M zone during its domestic run. International revenue will probably not be as solid, though.

• James Wan's latest feature, the horror movie "Insidious" did even better. Placing at #3 after its three-day run so far, the cinematic throwback to "Poltergeist" managed to rake in a healthy $13M, considering its budget was of only $1M. Talk about making a profit. The "Saw" director is turning out to be extremely profitable. The movie will probably finish its domestic run in the vicinity of $40-50M. Expect sequels.

• "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" took a steep dive, dropping from #1 last week to #4, from a comfortable $24M to a critical $10M in the 3-day time frame. Its total is now at $38M, which is pretty safe profit-wise, on a budget of just $21M. However, it's days in the top 10 are probably numbered. If its ticket sales will stabilise, it could hold up for 6-7 more weeks, otherwise, it's going to be a quick exit from the top 10. Still, I expect it will stop somewhere below the $80M threshold, which is not all that bad.

• #5 and #6 are reserved for the three-week veterans "Limitless" and "The Lincoln Lawyer" respectively. The Bradley Cooper starrer dropped $6M to a $9.5M over the week-end and a sweet total cume of $55.6M on a $22M budget. If it holds out like this for a whole month, it may even come close to the $100M mark. Considering the positive cirtical response and the healthy box-office, "Limitless" could be considered one of the official sleeper hits of the year. On the other hand, "The Lincoln Lawyer", though very strong on its feet, dropping only $7M from $11M, and accumulating a total of $39M, is still far from a total success. Its $40M budget prevents it from being profitable right now. In the next few weeks, if it manages to hold steady, it's possible to reach $60-70M before exiting the top 10. It's possible that it will find a more favorable market as a DVD/Blu-Ray release.

• At #7 is Zack Snyder's very expensive fiasco. Dropping a brutal $13M to an embarrassing $6M this week-end and a terrible $29M total for its $82M budget, "Sucker Punch" is now officially the biggest flop this year. Word-of-mouth failed to resuscitate interest in the movie, so it's very likely to exit the top 10 rapidly, if not this week, then the next, possibly touching $50M before fading away. Again, perhaps it will stand a better chance on the DVD/Blu-Ray market.

• "Rango" is still breathing in the top 10 as well at #8, dropping 50% to a $4.5M cume in the week-end. With $114M in the bank, it's now facing a quick exit in the following week, far from recuperating its $135M budget. International earnings plus DVD sales will surely help the studios turn a profit in the end.

• #9 finds "Paul" struggling to get by. Slowing down its loss by falling just $3M, from a $7M last week-end to $4M now, it has managed to take in a $31M total. Still, on a budget of $40M, it will most likely exit the top 10 without breaking even.

• Facing its last week in the top 10 is "Battle: Los Angeles" at #10, falling down 5 spots and $4M, to a week-end cume of $3.5M and a modest total of $78.5M on a $70M budget. They broke even and made some spare change, but it's likely to earn more internationally and on DVD. 

Here is the Top 10 for the week of 1 April 2011 :

1. Hop
Weekend : $38.1M
Total : $38.1M

2. Source Code
Weekend : $15.1M
Total : $15.1M

3. Insidious
Weekend : $13.5M  
Total : $13.5M

4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Weekend : $10.2M   
Total : $38.4M

5. Limitless
Weekend : $9.4M  
Total : $55.6M

6. The Lincoln Lawyer
Weekend : $7.05M  
Total : $39.6M

7. Sucker Punch
Weekend : $6.08M    
Total : $29.9M

8. Rango
Weekend : $4.56M    
Total : $114M

9. Paul
Weekend : $4.33M
Total : $31.9M

10. Battle: Los Angeles
Weekend : $3.5M  
Total : $78.5M

     LAST WEEK'S POPULAR POSTS :

• In Theaters, Apr 1, 2011
• 'The Hangover 2' (2011) - Full Trailer
• 'Thor' (2011) - New Movie Clip
• 'A Man Apart' (2003) - Review